Susan Stebbing Quotes
L. Susan Stebbing was a British analytic philosopher and the first woman in the United Kingdom to hold a full professorship in philosophy, at Bedford College, London. The quotes below are attributed to Susan Stebbing, organized by topic.
Browse Susan Stebbing by topic
Susan Stebbing on Justice
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“There are many ways of being wrong, but only one way of being right.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 153
Susan Stebbing on Knowledge
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Attributed to Susan Stebbing:
“Logic is the art of clear thinking.”
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Attributed to Susan Stebbing:
“Philosophy ought to be intelligible to those who are not philosophers.”
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Attributed to Susan Stebbing:
“We must distinguish in order to think clearly.”
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“I am convinced of the urgent need for democratic people to think clearly without the distortions due to unconscious bias and unrecognised ignorance. Our failures in thinking in part due to our faults which we could to some extent overcome were we to see clearly how these faults arise.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), Preface
Susan Stebbing on Mind
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“...we easily fall into the habit of accepting compressed statements which save us from the trouble of thinking. Thus arises what I shall call ‘Potted Thinking’.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 63 -
“...potted thinking is easily accepted, is concentrated in form, and has lost the vitamins essential to mental nourishment.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 63 -
“A mind in blinkers is a mind that is unfree.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 241
Susan Stebbing on Politics
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Attributed to Susan Stebbing:
“To think clearly is the duty of a citizen.”
Susan Stebbing on Time
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“Perceiving involves more than being sensibly aware of something present to the senses; it involves the activity of perceiving. This is the activity of a person, and in perceiving, the whole person is involved, not merely one or other of his sense organs.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 206
Susan Stebbing on Truth
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Attributed to Susan Stebbing:
“Bad arguments are not corrected by good intentions.”
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“We must face the unfortunate fact that we are moved to the acceptance of beliefs by factors that are wholly irrelevant to their truth.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 100 -
“We are content to accept without testing any belief that fits in with our prejudices and whose truth is necessary for the satisfaction of our desires.”
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 204